2015 Acura TLX first drive (for real this time)

(Editors Note: Some of you were tipped off to this article last Friday only to get an error when trying to click through. We screwed up and published it before it was supposed to go live; when we took it down the link no longer worked, leading you to an error message. We apologize for the tease, and we'll do our best to make sure it doesn't happen again.)

What Is It?

The list of carmakers that claim they’re going after -- the BMW 3-Series - and Mercedes C-Class, Audi A4 and Lexus IS -- has been long and occasionally laughable over the years. Sometimes the comparison is warranted, sometimes not. In the case of the new Acura TLX it’s somewhere in between. The TLX is closest in feel and performance to the Lexus IS, but exhibits elements of all its competitors in one way or another. The new “entry premium” sedan fills the space previously held by two Acuras that are no longer offered: the semi-sportish TSX and mostly luxury TL. It is in many ways a composite of the two. It sits on the same Global Mid-Size Platform that underpins the new Accord, but it shares only the Accord’s floor stampings. Everything above the floorpan, “…everything you can see,” according to Acura chief Mike Accavitti, is new and unique.

There will be three variants offered: an entry level front wheel-driver with a new direct-injection 2.4-liter four; and front- and all wheel-drive versions powered by a direct-injection 3.5-liter V6. The four-cylinder engine comes mated to a new, sportier eight-speed dual-clutch transmission with a torque converter while the V6 gets a new ZF nine-speed automatic. (We should pause a moment to thank Acura for NOT putting in a CVT, something for which engineers had to fight it out with management. Thank you engineers.)

To those basic pieces Acura piles on a host of three- and four-letter acronyms all aimed at safer, better performance: next-gen P-AWS, precision all-wheel steer that steers the rear wheels for more stable cornering; AHA, agile handling assist that applies an appropriate brake to induce the right amount of yaw in cornering; and SH-AWD or super-handling all wheel-drive, which distributes torque to each rear wheel via clutch packs on either side of the rear differential. All these are controlled in concert by a new IDS, or integrated dynamic system, which lets the driver select from four algorithms depending on the desired performance. Then there are a slew of other acronyms which seem to be the price of entry into today’s entry premium-and-above market; we won’t list them all except by function: cross-traffic monitoring for backing out of parking spaces, forward collision warning, lane-departure warning, lane keeping assist, road departure mitigation to keep you from driving into a ditch, and still more stuff all under the heading of AcuraWatch. Suffice to say if you get in trouble in a TLX it’ll probably be your fault.

This is the V6-powered awd version with SH-AWD.

Acura

How Does It Drive?

Over the course of a long West Virginia mountain day we piloted all three models of TLX, each with varying lists of options. They were all perfectly comfortable and you could even say responsive around town. If you consider that almost all buyers are going to drive these cars in a similarly non-challenging, non-racing mode, say 6 or 7/10ths and below, you could safely say that almost all TLX buyers will be happy with their cars. Extensive efforts were made to make the new car quieter, including pumping foam into the spaces behind the exterior body panels. This has resulted in as quiet a ride as you’re likely to get in the class. In fact, Acura has joined other manufacturers who have to broadcast engine noise into the cabin to give a sense of what’s going on under the hood at full throttle. The audio system that accomplishes this sends only the most distinctly defined sounds into the cabin, be they Mozart or Motörhead.

In a straight line the TLX returned good – if not great – preliminary numbers to 60 mph. The quickest model we tried in impromptu launches on mostly flat country roads was the front wheel-drive V6, which used all of its 290 hp getting there in 6.1 seconds. The SH-AWD V6 got 6.5 seconds and the front wheel-drive 206-hp four-cylinder got to 60 mph in 7.2. While more thorough tests will surely lower those figures, in our runs we found all the cars were hampered by a pause at launch. This ate up as much as a second of time. Once the TLX decided to get going, it went, roaring ahead with only slight wheelspin with traction control off.

Once you start to push the TLXs through corners though, you get mostly understeer at the limits, which announces itself with an awful lot of tire slip. We rode on both the Bridgestone RE97AS 225/50R18s and Goodyear Eagle LS2 225/50R18s, both with M&S treads. When pushed beyond their limits of grip, all those mechanical acronyms got to work immediately, trying desperately to keep the car in line. But even that much computing power eventually has to work with just four tire patches and those patches pushed powerfully.

The BMW or Audi competitors deliver a greater sense of driver control than the Acura and the Lexus IS. The TLX gave the feeling that the car was going to take care of all that control stuff at the limit for you and just don’t you worry about it, pal. There was a definite sense of disconnect, or at least a formidable buffer, between what you ask the car to do and the way it goes about doing it. It does what you ask, and does it well enough, but some drivers might want to do that stuff for themselves. Or at least feel as if they were. For most buyers, all that electronic control at the limit will be a good thing, since the TLX knows more about car control than they are likely to. But for a canyon-carving boy racer, the slight numbness might put him to sleep.

This 3.5-liter V6 makes 290 hp at 6,200 rpm.

Do I Want It?

If you enjoy being behind the wheel and if most of your driving does not involve spirited apex-bashing on challenging roads, this car will meet your needs. The infotainment connectivity is on par with the best in the class, the 10-speaker ELS Studio Premium Audio or even the 7-speaker premium audio is superbly distinct and there are zillions of ways to get music into them. The NAV and audio systems are a lot easier and more intuitive to use than BMW’s or Mercedes’. And the styling, while not being overly distinctive, is not as far-fetched as some earlier Acura offerings.

Acura thinks this will become one of its biggest sellers, surpassing sales of both the TSX and TL combined, or over 40,000 a year. The biggest seller in the division is the MDX and Acura thinks the TLX could even challenge that entry. Granted, MDX sells only around 53,000 or so a year, well below rivals in the TLXs entry premium class, so that’s not too lofty a goal. Acura lists a relatively low price, too, starting at $31,890 for a base four-cylinder and topping out at $45,595 for a loaded V6 SH-AWD. Acura is counting on its prices to get an advantage on competitors. In a market segment growing by five percent a year, it’ll need all the advantages it can get.

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